Weird Gibson EB style bass

H

honest2goodness

Sep 5, 2012
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#1
E54BCD98-4896-4261-987A-21AC466A1F8E.jpeg

So I bought this bass a few years ago. Love how it feels, but something is wrong. The low e string does not put out the same volume as the rest of the strings. To my ears, it’s considerable lower in volume. I cannot play this instrument, and I really want to!

I’ve tried both pickups separately, both at the same time. I’ve raised up the pickups on that side, thinking bringing the pickup closer to the string would help. Nothing.

Do the pickups need to be rewound?

Any thoughts and advice would be much obliged.
 
#3
What you have there is a modded SB-350. Here's how they looked when they left the factory, along with some other data:

www.flyguitars.com

Gibson SB Series of Bass Guitars >> FlyGuitars

Technical and historical information on the various 1970s SB series bass guitars, produced by Gibson at their Kalamazoo plant, USA
www.flyguitars.com

I can't speak of the issue that you're having with the E string, but I owned an SB-450 (long scale version of the same bass) briefly a couple of years ago and was utterly underwhelmed by pickups/electronics. This is coming from someone who's been playing Gibson basses for more than four decades and still owns...several, to put it politely...:D

Measure the pickups and post the results, and we'll take them from there.
 
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#4
ajkula66 said:
What you have there is a modded SB-350. Here's how they looked when they left the factory, along with some other data:

www.flyguitars.com

Gibson SB Series of Bass Guitars >> FlyGuitars

Technical and historical information on the various 1970s SB series bass guitars, produced by Gibson at their Kalamazoo plant, USA
www.flyguitars.com

I can't speak of the issue that you're having with the E string, but I owned an SB-450 (long scale version of the same bass) briefly a couple of years ago and was utterly underwhelmed by pickups/electronics. This is coming from someone who's been playing Gibson basses for more than four decades and still owns...several, to put it politely...:D

Measure the pickups and post the results, and we'll take them from there.
Click to expand...
Oh nice! Thank you! I was having trouble figuring out what model this is.

Sorry for my ignorance- but what do you mean “measure the pickups”? Lolol.
 
#8
Are the volume issues happening all the way up the neck? If the pickups are damaged some how it's weird that they're both messed up in a way that's causing the same issue. Can you post a sound sample?
 
#9
HelpImaRock said:
Have you changed the strings?
Click to expand...
I experienced a similar phenomenon with an old Gibson EB4-L where the A string, one day, was way weaker than the other strings. i spent a lot of time trouble shooting what I thought must be a pickup issue. Turns out, the core of the A string broke but the string itself didn't break which caused something very similar to what you are describing. So, as HelpmaRock suggests i would change the strings before spending too much more time and money on it.
 
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#12
ajkula66 said:
The pickups are Gibson humbuckers used on a very short run of SB-350/450 basses along with SG I and II guitars - possibly some others as well - from late '72 to around '75. Fairly docile sounding pickups, very far from the "conventional" Gibson sound and therefore an utter commercial flop.
Click to expand...

I had an early '70s SG Special that had plastic-covered mini humbuckers rather than the usual P90s, they were fine if low output. Surprising if they also put them on basses! These had adjustable pile pieces though.

IMG_0430.jpeg
 
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#13
RandomKaren said:
I had an early '70s SG Special that had plastic-covered mini humbuckers rather than the usual P90s, they were fine if low output. Surprising if they also put them on basses! These had adjustable pile pieces though.
Click to expand...

I recently sold a mint '72 Special with factory Bigsby otherwise identical to the one in your picture. The pickups are not the same, not even similar to what we're discussing here.
 
#15
I think the aftermarket bridge has the wrong string spacing. These humbuckers have a rather narrow magnetic field. And if the bridge does not have the proper spacing, the E-string is not going to be picked up as loud as it should be. And maybe the bridge is a wee bit too far to the left. Which exaggerates this problem even more.
 
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#16
honest2goodness said:
So I bought this bass a few years ago. Love how it feels, but something is wrong. The low e string does not put out the same volume as the rest of the strings. To my ears, it’s considerable lower in volume. I cannot play this instrument, and I really want to!
Click to expand...

I wanted to chime in here as I have one of these same instruments, the SB-350. My bass has the issue with a weak-sounding E string, and no amount of string changes or setup can really fix it. I think they were flawed straight from the factory, either in pickup design or assembly (or both) and I've found a number of other threads here that also complain of low string volume.


ajkula66 said:
I can't speak of the issue that you're having with the E string, but I owned an SB-450 (long scale version of the same bass) briefly a couple of years ago and was utterly underwhelmed by pickups/electronics. This is coming from someone who's been playing Gibson basses for more than four decades and still owns...several, to put it politely...:D
Click to expand...

I wonder if there's a difference between the SB350 and SB450 pickups. I've only played one SB450 but that bass (well, that particular one at least) didn't exhibit the E string volume drop that plagues my SB350. Perhaps I got lucky with that one.


RandomKaren said:
How does it sound unplugged, is the E string weak acoustically? If so maybe see if the nut is broken or not seated properly, and that the bridge saddle is ok. Other than that I'm wondering exactly what those pickups are...
Click to expand...

My bass seems to sound balanced across the strings acoustically, but plugged in the volume difference is notable. I think fretboard radius contributes to some extent, as the middle strings are substantially louder because the pickup isn't radiused to match. Still, it shouldn't be as drastic as it is.

Anyway, this bass is a weird one. I'd probably never buy one unless it was a really great deal, but I inherited mine from my dad and will probably never sell it. I do like the feel of the neck though, so I'm gonna mod it. The stock bridge is complete garbage (no individual action adjustment, plastic saddles) so I ordered a Hipshot Supertone which just arrived today. I'm hopeful that will sort out some of the string balance, but at least setup will be massively improved. Beyond that, I'm thinking a thunderbird pickup or a Serek B-90 could be a cool option for the neck pickup. I never even use the bridge, so I may just take it out completely.
 
#18
Basvarken said:
I think the aftermarket bridge has the wrong string spacing. These humbuckers have a rather narrow magnetic field. And if the bridge does not have the proper spacing, the E-string is not going to be picked up as loud as it should be. And maybe the bridge is a wee bit too far to the left. Which exaggerates this problem even more.
Click to expand...

This.

Didn't these basses originally come with a 3-point bridge? Re-install one of those, or another bridge with the correct string spacing and the problem will most likely be solved. The pic is very grainy, but to me it looks like the bridge isn't only the wrong spacing, but also installed slightly too far towards the right (although it might just be the angle of the pic).

The currently manufactured Epiphone Newport bass has the exact same problem. At least one of the outer strings is weak with the neck pickup because they've used a bridge with too wide string spacing for the Gibson-style mudbucker.

If you hate the Gibson 3-point there's also the Dunlop Supertone. It comes in two varieties, one is a drop in for the Gibson 3-point, the other is a drop-in for 2-point saddles. At least in theory. Make sure to do the necessary measurements, I remember some issues with metric vs inches. At least when replacing the bridge on the current Newport bass (which in my opinion is a severely flawed instrument, unless they've somehow fixed this problem by now, but I doubt it).

Of course it MIGHT be something else, it's impossible to diagnose stuff like this 100% over the internet.
 
#19
I think your approach is wrong. The E has the largest amplitude and therefore its more susceptible to mag field issues. The mag field is small. If the string is too far away, the E is swinging in and out of the field. Too close and the field is retarding the string swing.

Trying to match the E with the skinny strings that don’t swing as wide, is a losing proposition.

You should match the skinny strings to the E. Not match the E to the skinny strings.

I would move the E side of the pickup very low and bring it up till you get max output, then bring the other side up to balance the skinny strings.

Then let your amp volume knob do the rest.

Edit: also, have you checked that the bar magnets are not loose? Those magnets are glued on and can break off as the glue becomes brittle over time.
 
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